There’s some nuttiness and earth, a little molasses, toast and grass from the cavendish and burley. Mostly what you taste is a whisky topping that has a little richness. Has a mild nic-hit. Won’t bite or get harsh. The strength is a step closer to medium than it is to mild. Burns cool, mostly clean, at slightly less than a moderate pace with a very consistent flavor. Leaves little dampness in the bowl, and requires an average number of relights. Has a pleasant, lightly lingering sweet after taste with a sour note. Can be an all day smoke. Three stars only because I get an occasional slightly distracting alcohol essence from the whisky at times that’s not the kind one expects when drinking the bottled spirit.

I don't know why, but I have always been attracted to whiskey enhanced blends. Maybe in an effort to find one that really shines. Borkum Riff had a really nice whiskey taste, but Hell itself could not have burned hotter. Old Shoe blend was truly much better and straight forward. Imagine yourself smoking a dry burley leaf while alternating puffs with a good stiff shot of sour mash. Well, that's what I got while smoking Old Shoe. No way would I give this blend the boot.

Well what do you know, a full on aromatic I can stand. It did not burn my tongue or leave my mouth tasting of ashtray. I guess when you start with quality components good things can happen. Nice whiskey aftertaste and the burley from Uhle's (finest burley you can get) fill this out nicely, gives body, so it doesn't taste like I'm sucking air with flavoring... And the whiskey topping lasts through the bowl. Probably not going to be a regular, but worth keeping a few ounces on hand in case of any ecumenical gatherings.

WOW!!! I thought I would never be able to find another blend that I would like as much as my beloved Boswell Berry Cobbler or Christmas Cookie but I have found it. This stuff has a taste that is a little hard to describe. Once lit it is good but halfway through the bowl is is exceptional. It kinda has a what I would describe as a slight spicy taste, a little earthy. Very smooth on the draw and I love the way it seems to just nibble at the tounge, it does not bite but it seems to have a little tingle on the tounge. When I first seen the name Old Shoe I thought who would want to smoke anything that tastes or smells like an old shoe, but after smoking the first bowl I realize that it is as comfortable as an old shoe.

Uhle's blends just about speak for themselves. Excellent quality tobacco is used in all the Uhles stuff. Seems moist in the bag but actually smokes on the dry side. Once you get it going (light-tamp-light) the flavor, which does seem to be a little "rooty" as in root beer, (and just a tad sweet) is, if anything, understated. Nice mix of good casing and underlying tobacco flavor. Burns down to a dry ash with no bitters or goop. Room note is superb.

I am not much of an aromatic fan, sticking mostly to straight VAs or latakia blends, but I have often tried to find an aromatic I could enjoy when I am in a social setting. I have only recently tried Old Shoe and, as aromatics go, it is pretty good. While it is sweet and the tobacco is quite wet out of the bag, it smokes dry and burns to a nice ash. The tobacco is very limp, but not sticky and does not appear to leave that awful goopy residue in the pipe. Like the description given above, it does come through slightly of the rum and root beer, but not in a bad way. The combination of flavorings reminds me of hot buttered rum or of butterscotch candy, but the flavorings do not overwhelm the tobacco. Many aromatic casings tend to bother my sinuses, but I did not have that problem with Old Shoe.

Despite my usual preferences, I find that I enjoy Old Shoe.

Update 11/11/06: I am upping this to 4 stars because I find myself going to this and enjoying it more and more. Of the three Uhle aromatics I have tried (Black Stoker & Marquette are the others), this has become my favorite. It consistently burns cool and dry, stays lit very well and burns down to the very bottom without a hint of goop. Shows you what a proper aromatic can be that is cased without some cheap sugary mess.

Update 09/02/2007: I still find that I come back to this often. It is one of the few aromatics that I enjoy smoking for the flavor. I find that nuking the tobacco in the microwave to the point of almost burning it not only dries out any residual goopiness, but I like the slightly roasted flavor it produces. Try putting at least 4 oz in a covered microwave dish and use a low setting.

I decided to try some of their other tobaccos. This blend is a 1950s/1960s aromatic burley. Slightly sticky -but not overly so for this genre. Light and medium brown coarse ribbon. No black cavendish. Wonderful pouch aroma of burley with a lightly sweet top dressing. Packs easily and burns effortlessly.

The flavor is gently sweetened Burley but with substantially more body than a typical Cavendish. I do not like typical aromatics but found this to be quite nice and a great change of pace. Great room aroma. I cannot say I taste root beer but did find the flavor to be unique and nothing like your standard vanilla cased tobacco (which I detest). I really enjoyed mixing this with #300 (another fabulous cube cut).

Try this for a change of pace, or if you are an aromatic smoker looking for a nice tobacco that has some added body. Another fine blend from Uhle's.

Yes, "rooty" indeed! The amazing thing about Uhle's aromatics for me, is that they taste just as they are described. So many aromatics have no taste, but smell good. In the pouch, this doesn't have much smell at all. When lit, it is delightful.

Certainly there is root beer flavor, but when it melds with the rum, it takes on a rich buttered rum quality. The sidestream aroma is wonderful.

This is a trifle wet when fresh, but not goopy. It can get a little hot if you push it. You won't need to, because the flavor is right there. A real treat for aromatic lovers, and a pleasant diversion from more natural blends.

Uhle's is yet another national treasure for the American pipe smoker. They have something for everyone, and everything I have tried has been a real pleasure. I encourage anyone who enjoys old fashioned American blends to pick up a sampler soon. I think you will be delighted.

Old shoe is pretty good but different for my experience, To begin it is a mild smoke , also the root beer is there I happened to drink IBC rootbeer then I lit the bowl of this blend and it brought rootbeer taste out even more on my palate. All I can say mmmm mmmm. the smoke is kind of familiar to the other Uhle custom blends which to me is creamy volumes of smoke and nutty character.I would say this good blend for a aromatic lover like me .

A moderately applied whisky flavoring complements quality burley base tobaccos. The whisky comes through in the taste and smoke but so do burley tastes. It does not smoke hot with any restraint in puffing. A superior blend. Three and a half stars.

This was one of the first blends from Uhle's I had when I started smoking a pipe. At that time I did not review blends, so I wanted to revisit it. During their pipe sale this week, I strolled over to the tester jars and shoe-horned some into my pipe.

It is billed as an aromatic, but I was hard pressed to detect much of a distinct flavor other than a general tobacco scent. Well no harm no foul. I gave it a go and a very mild nuttiness came through. For an aromatic I crave much more flavor.

Halfway through the shoe just didn't hold a flame and it took several relights. It was at this point I was getting a gross dry ashy smoke, so I tamped the rest out and called it quits. I guess no one won, since my gal wrinkled her nose at the smoke wafting about.

Maybe my pallete changed or I'm likely missing something others seem to enjoy, but this was a pass for me.

My go-to Blend. I stumbled across this and haven't looked back. I supplement my hobby with different blends, sampling English, Aromatics, and the basics, but this stuff is habit forming.

I can't quite describe the flavor explicitly, usually because I am too busy enjoying the party in my mouth. It's creamy, it's sweet, it reminds me of coca-cola cake. However, there is enough tobacco flavor to remind you that you are smoking, not sucking on a jolly rancher.

My biggest gripe with aromatics is that after the initial light, you lose the flavor and the smoke starts to taste like that flavored smoke. With this blend you have the tobacco flavors all the way through the bowl, just a tasty, creamy, rich flavor.

If you've not tried the Old Shoe, call or stop by Uhle's and try it out, I bet you'll like it. If you don't, send it to me.